US: States With Gay Marriage Bans Have Higher Divorce Rates

Over the past decade or so, divorce has gradually become more uncommon in the United States. Since 2003, however, the decline in divorce rates has been largely confined to states which have not passed a state constitutional ban on gay marriage. These states saw their divorce rates decrease by an average of 8 percent between 2003 and 2008. States which had passed a same-sex marriage ban as of January 1, 2008, however, saw their divorce rates rise by about 1 percent over the same period. The table below details the divorce rates for the 43 states that reported their divorce statistics to the CDC in both 2003 and 2008. It is calculated by taking the total number of divorces in the state that year, and dividing it by the number of married persons, as reported by the Census Bureau. The result is then multiplied by two, since each divorce involves two people. This is different than how the divorce rate is sometimes calculated, which may be as a share of the overall population rather than the number of married persons; I prefer my approach because it will not penalize a state for having a lot of marriages (and therefore more opportunities for divorce). Full Story from FiveThirtyEight.com: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/01/divorce-rates-appear-higher-in-states.html

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Bill Introduced in US House to Penalize States With Gay Adoption Bans

A federal bill introduced Monday would penalize states with anti-gay adoption laws, gay weekly the Washington Blade reported. Congressman Pete Stark's Every Child Deserves a Family Act would deny funding to states that ban gay, lesbian, transgender and unmarried people from adoption or foster programs. “Despite the shortage of adoptive and foster parents and the terrible consequences of long stays in the child welfare system, some states have enacted discriminatory bans prohibiting children from being placed with qualified parents due to the parent's marital status or sexual orientation,” Stark said on the House floor. Full Story from On Top Magazine: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=4731&MediaType=1&Category=26

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8 Out of 10 Gays/Lesbians Would Move to Gay Marriage States if Work Allowed It

According to the 2009 Out & Equal Workplace Survey, other factors being equal, 71 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults would prefer a job with an employer based in a state where marriage equality is recognized over an employer based in a state that does not yet recognize marriage equality for same-sex couples. When asked specifically of lesbian and gay adults, 79% or eight out of ten agree. When asked hypothetically, if they lived in a state where marriage equality is recognized by law, 42 percent of LGBT adults say they would consider changing jobs if their employer required them to transfer to a state where same-sex marriages are not recognized. Four out of ten – or 39% - LGBT adults also would consider declining a job promotion if it required them to transfer to a state where same-sex marriages are not recognized, while nearly half – or 47% – of gay and lesbian adults, counted specifically, concur. “As marriage equality reaches more states and touches more lives, more families and more workplaces, employers based in states that deny this right will begin to face increasing challenges in trying to recruit and retain top LGBT talent,” said Out & Equal Founding Executive Director Selisse Berry. “Marriage equality is a real business issue for all of America’s business leaders as they strive to achieve a diverse, well-qualified and loyal workforce.” Full Story from Business Wire: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20091005006001&newsLang=en

Planning to marry your partner? Click here for gay marriage resources.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook - just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you'll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We're also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.